Cubes or strips of beef or lamb seared with niter kibbeh spiced butter, rosemary, onion, and jalapeno, brought to the table still crackling on a shekla clay brazier over live coals. Ethiopia's celebratory meat dish, scooped up with injera and fired up with berbere or awaze paste.
Also known as: tibs, tibbs, shekla tibs, zilzil tibs, Ethiopian sizzling beef
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 600 g beef sirloin or rump, in 2 cm cubes
- 3 tbsp niter kibbeh (Ethiopian spiced clarified butter)
- 1 red onion, in thick wedges
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 green jalapeños, in rings
- 1/2 tsp berbere (optional)
- salt
- injera, to serve
How to make it
- 1
Get a cast-iron pan (or a clay shekla dish) smoking hot and sear the beef dry, in two batches, about 2 minutes per batch.
- 2
Return all the meat, drop in the niter kibbeh, onion, garlic and rosemary and toss over the highest heat 3-4 minutes — centres should stay blush pink.
- 3
Season with salt, and berbere if you like heat, then add the jalapeño rings for a final 30 seconds.
- 4
Carry the pan to the table still sizzling and scoop everything up with torn injera.
Pro tip: Crowd the pan and tibs boils in its own juice — searing in two batches is non-negotiable.
